Bichnga Do, 2L

As the only American-born child in a family of eight who fled war-torn Vietnam, Bichnga often had to help her Vietnamese parents navigate the public-service system and meet their family’s basic needs for shelter and food. Her upbringing led her to commit to a future career in public interest serving people like her family who have suffered serious human rights abuses, and who lack the support and resources to advance their rights.

After undergrad, Bichnga worked as a JusticeCorps Graduate Fellow, leading workshops on paternity and dissolution cases for self-represented litigants, and giving legal information to litigants seeking ex parte restraining orders. Working with self-represented litigations helped her practice empathetic and trauma-informed advocacy for such litigants. After JusticeCorps, Bichnga worked as a high school English teacher in Tokyo for two years, helping implement curriculum reforms that would incorporate speaking tests alongside reading and writing tests. Bichnga hopes her lived experience as a child of refugees and her public service work in JusticeCorps and teaching English abroad will allow her to contribute a unique voice to the IHRC. 

While at Gould, Bichnga has been involved with the Public Interest Law Foundation, the Women of Color Collective, the Asian Pacific American Law Student Association, and the Legal Alternative Break. For her 1L summer, Bichnga externed with Judge Allison Claire of the Eastern District of California. She also served as a research assistant for Professor Laura Riley and James Gilliam and researched the disproportionate impact of homelessness on diverse communities, such as LGBTQ youth, veterans, and undocumented immigrant groups.”

“My upbringing as a daughter of two resilient refugees has led me to commit to a future career in public interest serving people like my family—people whose narratives are often rooted in trauma and war, who have suffered serious human rights abuses, and who lack the support and resources to advance their rights.”